Digital TV Guides

TV and phone packages

Updated: Thursday 8 July, 2010

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

Want to save money on your monthly household bills? Signing up to a TV and home phone only package could help you cut the cost of your digital TV service, and get you a better deal on your line rental.

Bundling your services with one supplier can get you some great money-saving offers, and help you to reduce your monthly bills. Several suppliers in the UK offer digital TV and home phone bundles.

To find the perfect TV and phone package for your household, read our guide below…

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Sky TV and phone deals

One of the cheapest digital TV and phone packages on offer is from Sky (www.sky.com). The satellite TV giant has two bundles to choose from:

• Sky TV and Sky Talk Freetime - You’ll get one Sky TV viewing “pack”, free evening and weekend calls to UK landlines with numbers beginning 01, 02 and 03, and line rental, for just £29 a month.
• Sky TV and Sky Talk Unlimited - You’ll get one Sky TV viewing pack, free calls to UK landlines at anytime of the day and line rental, all for £34 a month.

As the UK’s largest satellite TV provider, Sky TV is currently in over 9.8 million homes around the country. Of those customers, 2.3 million also have a Sky Talk package, taking advantage of Sky’s cheap line rental.

Sky charges just £11 a month for line rental - cheaper than rival provider BT. Unlike BT, which charges customers £1.25 a month extra to receive their bills through the post, Sky offers free paper billing, making it a good option for anyone who doesn’t want to sign-up to receive their bills via email.

If you’d like more channels, you can add more viewing packs to your TV deal. Choose from either Variety, Knowledge, Style & Culture, News & Events, Children’s or Music - each additional packs will cost you just £1 extra a month.

To find out more about Sky’s TV and phone packages, click on the table below:

Virgin Media TV and phone deals

Virgin Media (www.virginmedia.com) also offers some cheap digital TV and phone packages, which are ideal for anyone living in a cable TV area.

If you’re looking for the cheapest TV deal, sign-up to the Size M+ TV package, then choose the home phone tariff that suits your needs. There are three call plans to choose from:

• TV M+ and Talk M - You’ll get over 65 digital TV channels, free catch-up on-demand TV, free weekend calls to UK landlines and Virgin mobiles, and line rental for £17.49 a month.
• TV M+ and Talk L - You’ll get over 65 digital TV channels, free catch-up on-demand TV, unlimited evening and weekend calls to UK landlines and Virgin mobiles, and line rental for £20.94 a month.
• TV M+ and Talk XL - You’ll get over 65 digital TV channels, free catch-up on-demand TV, unlimited anytime calls to UK landlines and Virgin mobiles, and line rental for £25.44 a month.

If you’re looking for more TV channels, consider upgrading to the L or XL TV packages. With Size XL TV you’ll get over 160 channels as well as access to the TV Choice On Demand menu, which has thousands of popular shows and series on-demand to watch whenever you want.

For more information about what Virgin Media has to offer, click on the table below:

Cheap “unbundled” packages

If you don’t fancy bundling your services, or if you’re locked into a home phone contract with another supplier, there are still plenty of money-saving options available.

Sky’s (www.sky.com) satellite TV service is available without taking its phone line, and costs £18 a month for one viewing “pack”. And Virgin Media’s (www.virginmedia.com) TV packages are available without taking a cable phone line, but are more expensive.

Switching to a subscription-free TV service such as Freeview or Freesat could also help you save money on your household bills. With either service you’ll just have to pay a one-off cost for the digital set-top box - there are no monthly fees and boxes can be purchased for as little as £20.

If you decide to go subscription-free for your digital TV, consider signing up to a cheap landline deal, such as the Primus Saver package. Primus offers free evening and weekend calls and line rental for just £8.99 a month - the cheapest home phone package in the UK.

Compare deals and prices online using the Digitalchoices.co.uk postcode checker and see how much you can save by switching to a TV and phone bundle.